Parent and guardian role and responsibilities
Role
When your child is under 18, your role in their apprenticeship or traineeship is to:
- support and guide them in their career and training choices
- be informed of how undertaking vocational education and training (VET) options may affect future funded training opportunities for your child (especially if they start their training while still in school)
- help them find an employer
- support their work experience and training
- inform other parties (school, employer, training organisation) or any changes or absences
- consent to your child's decisions.
When your official role ends
When your child turns 18, you no longer have an official role concerning their training contract. They are legally responsible for changes to their own training contract.
Responsibilities
If your child is under 18 and still dependent, you need to consent to your child signing a training contract (even though you are not a party to the contract) and any changes to that contract during their training.
Specifically, you are responsible for:
- signing the training contract withing 14 days after the start date of the apprenticeship or traineeship
- signing application forms for
- amendments
- extensions
- transfers (new employer)
- suspensions (pauses)
- changing the delivery method of the training plan
- cancellation
- completion.
You can sign your child's training contract if you are both your child's parent/guardian and employer.
School-based responsibilities
If your child is a school-based apprentice or trainee, you'll have some extra responsibilities including:
- ensuring the school approves the apprenticeship or traineeship
- helping to negotiate your child's school, work and training timetable
- communication any problems with the employer, training organisation or school
- alerting the Australian Apprenticeship Support Network (AASN) provider if your child is suspended or excluded (expelled) from school.
Read more about responsibilities in school-based apprenticeships and traineeships.
Access to your child's information
Due to privacy laws, the Department of Employment, Small Business and Training can't share everything about your child's training contract with you, even though you are their parent/guardian.
We can only share enough information that allows you to meet your responsibilities (listed above). Otherwise, your child must give us explicit permission.
We need your child to fill out Form ATF-008, before we share more information about their training contract with you or any other person.